Vaping-products tax insane ‘public health’ policy

A US public health expert has described a decision by the District of Columbia to impose a 67 percent tax on all electronic cigarettes and vaping products as one of the most insane ‘public health’ policies he had ever heard of.

‘Taxing e-cigarettes at a whopping 67 percent rate is nothing more than a gift to Big Tobacco,’ Dr. Michael Siegel, who is a professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, said in a note posted on his tobacco analysis blog.

‘Undoubtedly, it will put many vaping shops out of business, resulting in significant numbers of ex-smokers returning to smoking and many smokers who would otherwise have quit using e-cigarettes not doing so,’ he said.

‘The policy protects cigarette profits at the expense of the public’s health.’

Read the blog here.